Dancer Choreographer Musician and Teacher

From Student Handout to Published Work

Almost 35 years ago we moved to California from Honolulu and (luckily for me) landed in Uncle Joe Kahāʻulelioʻs hālau. After he passed away a few years later I began to teach hula. I noticed one thing right away. Those of us who were from Hawaiʻi had a very different perspective on the hula from those who were not.
Many of my students were well meaning, but simply had no idea of the depth of what they were getting involved with.
This is why I began to collect notes and essays on the cultural underpinnings of the hula for my students. I combined them into a spiral bound “book” that I self published. The first edition was released in 1999. Three years ago I revisited the project to refine the information and self-published in a more professional way. The latest rewrite of the Haumāna Hula Handbook was just released by Penguin Random House!